time to cancel England exams?

[winechateauxjoy]

I see that Scotland have followed the lead of Wales and cancelled next summer's exams. Isn't it about time they did the same in England to make it fair for those children who have been in and onut of school like yo yos in some schools?

@winechateauxjoy

How could they acknowledge disparity post exams? That would require someone to have to look at every single student, every single school and calculate how much time out of school they had missed, how good their access to online learning was, how good their IT access was. An impossible task. Surely the fairest thing to do would be to trust the judgment of the professionals and use predicted grades based on available data. Had this decision been made months ago schools could have ensured that fair testing and mock exams take place as well as giving plenty of time to collate this information. Instead I predict a last minute U turn and frantic data collection in couple of weeks - just like this year. And look what a mess that turned into.

If CAGS can be used can’t information regarding this from school be trusted? No one has to detail it all.

well they didn't trust the teachers this year to begin with.......

"I would think the most pragmatic option is to reduce the syllabus and adjust the grade boundaries - that would be much fairer than assigning optimistic grades based on teacher assessment"

I agree. As you say, if exams are cancelled because of the amount of face to face time in school, teachers are going to be in a worse position to establish fair grades than last year.

The stress on kids and schools is enormous though, kids and schools need reassurance content of exams will be reduced. The sooner that plan is in place, the better.

Yes and cancelling exams this year hit state harder

My dc is yr 11 and has had to isolate, but wants them to go ahead. I agree, that they should with adaptations.

For those who disagree, what would you suggest instead?

And in what way would what you suggest be better and fairer?

As far as I can see, teacher assessed grades would still unfairly impact those who are behind because they have missed more?

@1FootInTheRave

The disparity is even more pronounced than usual.

I write that as someone with a year 11 child who has worked extremely hard all through lockdown. Has her own laptop, phone, study area etc. She is one of the advantaged ones and I am so very worried about her results.

What are you so worried about? My dc is in the same boat, but I’m not that worried as they can only do their best...

This attitude actually really angers me. My son has always performed highly in exams but been under predicted in grades by teachers. Not really a surprise because he is black. It’s the widely unspoken thing that is discussed amongst parents seeing the same thing with their own children. It’s also backed up by hard data. He has just scored really highly in mocks and again outperformed target grades. Do I have faith that this would translate to fair grades in the event of cancellations? No. Exams are the light at the end of the tunnel. Exams are colour blind.
For context, we are tier 3 and schooling has been missed. This is not about concern for deprived students. This is sharp elbowed parenting with worry that some may have had more advantage than your children. That will be the case but there will also be those that have had less.
To want cancellations, you are most likely to be in that comfortable group who benefit from cancellations. My son has also missed schooling but is working desperately hard and wants a chance to take his exams.

@BefuddledPerson

“Cancelling exams helps the worst off most - they will be more stressed by all the covid impacts so cancelling them gives that group a big break.”

Why do you think this? I’m genuinely interested as I’d have thought it would disadvantage them most? The exams provide a route onto the next stage of their studies. There won’t be room for everyone to do what they want to do? How do they decide if there are no exams? And for those who are behind, for whatever reason, surely that would be reflected in the cag grade?

This years plans to provide advance warning of content, allows crib sheets etc have been agreed following research which identified that cancelling it disadvantages the very group trying to be supported.(and yes, this means those in Wales and Scotland may well be disadvantaged by this now)

Even within small geographic areas, the impact on each school/cohort is very different so it just wasn't practical to remove specific content or reduce by a set amount.

If you haven't already, worth reading the research Ofqual released last week.

@Blackberrycream

This attitude actually really angers me. My son has always performed highly in exams but been under predicted in grades by teachers. Not really a surprise because he is black. It’s the widely unspoken thing that is discussed amongst parents seeing the same thing with their own children. It’s also backed up by hard data. He has just scored really highly in mocks and again outperformed target grades. Do I have faith that this would translate to fair grades in the event of cancellations? No. Exams are the light at the end of the tunnel. Exams are colour blind. For context, we are tier 3 and schooling has been missed. This is not about concern for deprived students. This is sharp elbowed parenting with worry that some may have had more advantage than your children. That will be the case but there will also be those that have had less. To want cancellations, you are most likely to be in that comfortable group who benefit from cancellations. My son has also missed schooling but is working desperately hard and wants a chance to take his exams.

100% agree with you

Kids can be missing school, but that doesn't mean they can't be studying (unless they are actually sick themselves). They have the books and revision guides. There are past papers to practice.

Of course it's not what one would want and it is not a substitute for being in school, but it is possible for students, with some motivation, to go a long way to help themselves.
I don't like the exam system as a whole and I think it definitely should be reconsidered but not now. Exams should go ahead (and they should have gone ahead last year - syllabus completed, schools were empty, and pupils sit apart during exams).

@Namechangeforthis111 if centre assessed grades take into account where they think a pupil would have been with no disruption, they should be able to adjust to take account of the covid mess - borne most by poorer areas.

Ploughing on is not the right answer imo. Although I have a child desperate to do them, who hasn't been impacted, so I am being a bit disloyal!

But the exams can't be considered fair this year.

@Blackberrycream that is a powerful counter argument to my point of view!

@winechateauxjoy

I k ow of schools where year 11 have already missed 6 weeks of school since September. How could it possibly be fair to expect them to perform as well as a student who has been able to attend every day? What is they miss another 6 weeks next term as well?

Reducing the content or sitting the exam 3 weeks later for all students is not making it fairer for those who are mssing out on so much school time this year.

But they are more likely to have got the maximum possible education by May, compared to being assessed on the basis of what they might have (and frequently have not, for many reasons) submitted on Google Classroom.

Cancelling exams benefits the wealthy families more, as they have access to technology, they're likely to be WFH rather than on wards or shopfloors or driving buses and they're more likely to be able to do the work for the kids where nobody can see it happening.

@1FootInTheRave

I am really worried about GCSE'S 2021.

They have missed around a quarter of a 2 year course (03 to 09/20). Not including any periods of isolation due to peers testing positive.

A 3 week delay just won't cut it imo.

Many schools start gcse curriculum in Year 9 and do them over 3 years. They might not have missed as much as is being proposed. My eldest Dd took GCSEs in 2019, and as the GCSEs were new, she only had 2 years to do them. And as they were new, the teachers hadn't learnt how to pace them yet. So she was being taught new content right up to study leave. There was no time for teacher lead revision classes. It was still possible to get good grades.

But when the new GCSE content was introduced EVERY child was in the same boat. None of their teachers had had any experience of teaching them before, so it was fair. This year children will be expected to sit the same exams - regardless of how much classroom time they have had.

I am a both a teacher and a mum to a year 11. Until today I was feeling pretty confident the exams would go ahead and now the worry is back that out of the blue at some point they will pull them.

I genuinely don’t understand this notion that cancelling exams is ‘fairer’. If a child has been hit badly by lockdown ( and some very evidently have) whether I assess them or an exam assesses them- they will be at a lower grade than if lockdown hadn’t happened. Unless parents are expecting me to predict the grade they would have got if covid didn’t exist?? Cancelling exams doesn’t get rid of disadvantage.

On top of that we have far less data on this year group then last years to centre assess and there is no parity at all between how schools are collecting data now. In fact within my school, different departments have approached November mocks in completely different ways full exam/ open book/ teacher lead. We have had no guidance on what evidence we should be collecting in case exams are cancelled which again is far less fair because different schools are doing things their own way.

Exams are the least worst option- much easier to tweak grade boundaries if the results look dire at the bottom end, and let the kids move on to the next step.

My dd missed her mocks due to me having caught covid from my school and her having to self isolate. I am really not a ‘sharp elbowed parent worrying that some children have had more advantage than mine’ I am genuinely worried how much this virus has impacted my dd and her chances of gaining GCSEs. Surely that’s as valid as those who want exams to go ahead, as they are, as it suits their child.
Given the results of this poll up to now I think that sums it up.

[quote BefuddledPerson]@Namechangeforthis111 if centre assessed grades take into account where they think a pupil would have been with no disruption, they should be able to adjust to take account of the covid mess - borne most by poorer areas.

Ploughing on is not the right answer imo. Although I have a child desperate to do them, who hasn't been impacted, so I am being a bit disloyal!

But the exams can't be considered fair this year.[/quote]
Yes possibly, but then my dc was disadvantaged last year by the cag grading and ended up with a grade lower than their mock (took one gcse a year early in their school). This was because the schools results aren’t generally great, and dc year group is a bright year. Dc was downgraded from mock and teacher prediction based on year before results. That didn’t feel very fair. I think there will be random losers whatever happens.

We Are in Scotland and are glad they have been cancelled.

I don’t believe a teenager should be defined by a 2 hour exam and believe continual assessment throughout the full year is a more precise way of grading a student.

However I do worry that my teen who sat National 5 exams in 2019 will have not sat any exams and then be expected to sit exams in uni, however we will cross that bridge when we come to it,

@Cathpot

I am a both a teacher and a mum to a year 11. Until today I was feeling pretty confident the exams would go ahead and now the worry is back that out of the blue at some point they will pull them.

I genuinely don’t understand this notion that cancelling exams is ‘fairer’. If a child has been hit badly by lockdown ( and some very evidently have) whether I assess them or an exam assesses them- they will be at a lower grade than if lockdown hadn’t happened. Unless parents are expecting me to predict the grade they would have got if covid didn’t exist?? Cancelling exams doesn’t get rid of disadvantage.

On top of that we have far less data on this year group then last years to centre assess and there is no parity at all between how schools are collecting data now. In fact within my school, different departments have approached November mocks in completely different ways full exam/ open book/ teacher lead. We have had no guidance on what evidence we should be collecting in case exams are cancelled which again is far less fair because different schools are doing things their own way.

Exams are the least worst option- much easier to tweak grade boundaries if the results look dire at the bottom end, and let the kids move on to the next step.

We heard some local schools approached mocks (this term) by telling the kids what was being covered....

Whereas some treated them as proper mocks....

@winechateauxjoy

But when the new GCSE content was introduced EVERY child was in the same boat. None of their teachers had had any experience of teaching them before, so it was fair. This year children will be expected to sit the same exams - regardless of how much classroom time they have had.

You've missed my point. I'm saying there is enough time for all content (and it's going to be reduced) to be covered before the exams if schools streets teaching the GCSE in Y9. And at least half of schools do.

And these differences in the way that mocks have been set illustrates exactly why an early decision would have been best for everyone concerned. If schools know now whether of not exams will take place then there is time to put in robust in school assessments and moderation. It is why last years assessment grades were such a nightmare - rushed through with no proper consideration of how to moderate and compare fairly one school's set of data with another.

Not all schools start GCSE in Year 9 though - so we are back to the issue of unfairness and lack of level playing fields.

If mocks get bumped up in importance how goes that help students who’ve missed more weeks than others?

We had full exam conditions interesting to read below.